A business or enterprise application is a computer program used by business users to perform various business functions. Business applications are frequently developed when available off-the-shelf software does not completely address the desired functionality. Many business applications are interactive, having a graphical user interface (GUI) via which users can input data, submit data queries, perform operations, and view results. Consumer applications are less business focused, instead being focused on the needs of the consumer.
Business and consumer users tend to depend on information technology (IT) personnel to code their applications due to application complexity, and the programming expertise required. For example, merely designing an application to retrieve data from a remote source (e.g., a cloud service) is difficult, typically requiring the involvement of an experienced software developer.
Developing business and consumer applications is an activity that is typically performed on desktop computer systems having relatively large displays and a standard keyboard and mouse for accepting user input. Consequently, many tools for developing business and consumer applications do not include GUIs that are designed to efficiently use whatever screen space is available for displaying the GUI. Likewise, many tools for developing business and consumer applications do not include GUIs that take advantage of touch-based user input schemes or other techniques for reducing the amount of user interaction and user input required to develop such applications.